Drum roller



March 5, 1968 J. S.IECKERT ETAL DRUM ROLLER 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Sept. 13, 1965 T wa mm n E A N C R mE 0 I T w A OL JG March 5, 1968 J. s. ECKERT ETAL 3,371,547

DRUM ROLLER Filed Sept. 15, 1965 v 2 Sheets-Sheers 2 ii: V up j; S L INVENTORS JOHNS. ECKERT GLENN J HAUGHT ATTORNEY United States Patent 3,371,547 DRUM ROLLER John S. Eckert, Silver Lake, and Glenn J. Haught, Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio, assignors, by mesne assignments, to US. Stoneware, Inc., a corporation of Massachusetts Filed Sept. 13, 1965, Ser. No. 486,684 6 Claims. (Cl. 74206) ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A drum roller is supported on each side by a series of rotatable wheels, the different series being parallel to one another. One or more wheels on one side of the drum are driven and those on the other side of the drum are idlers. The idlers are supported on a carriage which is movable toward and away from the driven wheels, and the carriage is capable of being fastened at different distances therefrom so as to accommodate drums of different sizes. The preferred fastening means includes a pin that passes through openings in the carriage and through openings selected from a series thereof in cross rails which support the driven wheel or wheels.

This invention relates to a drum roller for mixing, blending, pulverizing or agitating the contents of a drum. The drum may be provided interiorly with bafiles or it may contain balls or pebbles to produce a ball mill action.

The drum is supported between two rows of wheels. There are two or more wheels in each row. The wheels on one side of the drum are driven, and are permanently mounted, and the wheels on the other side of the drum are idlers and are mounted on a bracket or other carriage which is movable toward and away from the driven wheels, and means is provided for fastening the carriage with the idle wheels at any of various given distances from the driven Wheels to accommodate drums of different sizes. There are cross rails on the base of the roller which support the driven wheels and along which the bracket or other carriage is slidable or otherwise movable.

In a preferred form of the invention there are an even number of wheels on each side of the drum, so that there are one or more pairs of wheels on each side of the drum, and there is a cross rail that extends across the base between each pair of driven wheels and each pair of idle wheels. Thus, in a preferred form of the invention in which there are four wheels on each side of the drum, there are two cross rails, and the driven wheels are mounted on a shaft supported in bearings mounted at one end of each of the cross rails and the idle wheels are mounted on a shaft on a bracket which is slidable along the cross rails.

To support a drum of a particular size, the bracket is moved to a desired position and held there by a pin which passes through aligned openings on both sides of each rail and in elements of the bracket which are adjacent the two cross rails. There is a series of such openings either in the two cross rails or in the elements of the bracket, or both. Thus the bracket may be moved to any one of several positions, and held there by the pin.

The invention will be further described in connection with the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIGURE 1 is a plan view of the drum roller;

FIGURE 2 is an elevation on the line 22 of FIG- URE 1;

FIGURE 3 is a section on the line 33 of FIGURE 1; and

FIGURE 4 is a detail section on the line 44 of FIG- URE 1.

The drum roller is formed with a base 1 on which the 3,371,547 Patented Mar. 5, 1968 motor 3 and gear-reduction mechanism 4 are mounted. A coupling 5 is advantageously provided for engaging and disengaging the driven wheels 7, 8, 9 and 10. These driven wheels are mounted at one side of the base and the idle wheels 12, 13, 14 and 15 are mounted at the opposite side of the base. The driven wheels are parallel to one another, have the same axis, and are of the same size, and this is also true of the idle wheels. It is not necessary that the driven wheels and the idle wheels be of the same size, but this is usual, and there need not be the same number of each. Usually the wheels have electroconductive neoprene treads 18 to dissipate static electricity which is developed during the operation. The base may be prolonged to accommodate a number of drums, in which case additional driven wheels will be aligned with the driven wheels shown, and idle wheels for each drum will usually be mounted on a separate carriage so that drums of different sizes can be accommodated at the same time.

Cross rails 20 and 21 are fastened to the base by welding or bolting or other suitable means. A pair of the driven rolls is fastened to the drive shaft 25 on each side of each cross rail, and the drive shaft is mounted in bearings 27 fixed to the tops of the cross rails. Thus the driven rolls are permenently mounted.

The bracket 30 slides on the two cross rails. It is formed of a central element 32 the edges of which are bent up to form flanges 35 and 36. Angles 38 and 39 are welded to the flanges 35 and 36 to form yokes which support the shaft 40 on which the idle wheels are mounted.

The bracket is fastened at a desired distance from the driven rollers by insertion of a pin 45 through openings 48 in the flanges 35 and 36 of the central member, and aligned openings 49 in each wall of each cross rail. The drawings show one opening 48 in each flange of the central member and a series of openings 49 in the cross rail. It is to be understood that adjustment of the location of the bracket may be accomplished by providing a series of openings in the flanges 35 and 36 of the central member and having only a single opening in each side of each cross rail, or a plurality of openings may be provided in each flange and in each side of each cross rail. Other means may be provided for holding the bracket a given distance from the driven wheels.

FIGURE 3 shows a large drum 5%) resting on the wheels shown in full lines. To accommodate a smaller drum 50', the carriage is moved toward the driven wheels so that the idle wheels assume the position shown by the dotted-line representation of the wheel 13. Drums of difierent sizes are readily accommodated by removing the pin 45, sliding the carriage to a desired position, and then re-inserting the pin.

The invention is covered in the claims which follow.

What we claim is:

1. A drum roller which includes a base, two series of wheels at least one wheel of the first series being driven, the wheels of the second series being idle wheels, all of the driven wheels being on a single shaft, the wheels of each series being the same size, parallel and spaced from one another and having the same axis, the axes of the respective series being parallel, the wheels of the first series being permanently mounted on the base, means for rotating the same, and a carriage on a base having at least one upwardly projecting flange perpendicular to said axes, said flange comprising spaced positioning means, with cooperating means associated with the carriage for fastening the carriage at one of said positioning means on which the wheels of the second series are mounted, the carriage being movable.

2. The drum roller of claim 1 in which the base supports a cross rail, and the carriage is supported by and movable along the cross rail.

'3. The drum roller of claim 1 in which the base supports a cross rail, the carriage is slidable along the cross fastening the carriage.

4. The drum roller of claim 1 in which the base supports a cross rail and the wheels of the first series are mounted on a shaft held in a bearing on the cross rail.

5. The drum roller of claim 1 in which the means for driving said one wheel of the first series is mounted on said base.

6. A drum roller which includes a base, two pairs of driven wheels and two pairs of idle wheels, the driven wheels being the same size, parallel and spaced from one another and mounted on a drive shaft, the idle wheels being the same size, parallel and spaced from one another and mounted on a second shaft which is parallel to the drive shaft, two spaced cross rails fastened to the base perpendicular to the two shafts, the wheels of the first pair of the driven wheels and the first pair of the idle wheels being located on opposite sides of one of the cross rails and the wheels of the second pair of the driven wheels and the second pair of the idle wheels being located on opposite side of the other cross rail, the drive shaft being supported in bearings mounted adjacent one end of the cross rails, a bracket slidable on the cross rails adjacent their other ends, which bracket supports the second shaft, and means for holding the bracket at different distances from the drive shaft.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 426,370 4/1890 Evans 74207 820,021 5/1906 Smith 74206 2,803,142 8/1957 Kautfman 74-206 3,033,057 5/1962 Gray 74-206 3,215,411 11/1965 Pitts 74202 FRED C. MATTERN, JR., Primary Examiner.

C. I. HUSAR, Assistant Examiner. 

